Committee, warning that failure to
provide the military with funding at
requested levels would lead to “
significant additional cuts” to the size
and shape of the force.

“There’s a tremendous amount
of angst across the force and a large
part of that is driven by the uncertainty about how big the force will
be, what will happen to their particular careers and will we have the
equipment necessary to accomplish the mission,” Dunford said.

Weeks later, Richardson told the
same panel that the Navy’s current
plan for a 308-ship fleet, which
does not take into account the
budget caps, even carries some
operational risk. Lower spending
levels, one could assume, would
only compound that risk.

In his testimony, Richardson
stressed that morale remains high
in the Navy, and Sailors remain
committed to their missions. But
he, like Dunford, acknowledged
that the current fiscal environment
has increased anxiety within the
service.

“As we manage our way through
continuing resolutions, the looming sequestration … and manage
our way through these times of
reduced resources, there is an
unsettled feeling in the force as this
uncertainty clouds the air,” he told
the panel.

Neller, who joined the Marine
Corps during the post-Vietnam
“hollow force,” voiced concerns
about retention rates during his
own confirmation hearing in July.
The force, he said, has grown
accustomed to rising budgets,
increasingly sophisticated equipment and generous benefits.

And, as budgets have tightened
and uncertainty has persisted, Neller
said Marines have asked him what
will happen to their pay, equipment,
training, bases and housing.

“They don’t have the context Ihad. They don’t understand what itis to go short,” Neller said. “They’lllearn, if they have to. So I do havesome concerns about retention.”Neller, who was to receive hisfourth star this month, said he be-lieves Marines will opt to stay in theforce, despite the real-life effects ofbudget pressures.

“But that remains to be seen,”
he added.

Defense AuthorizationOn Tap for September

The annual appropriations bills
weren’t the only legislative items
left undone when Congress left for
its summer break.

The House and Senate Armed
Services Committees had hoped to
wrap up work on the fiscal 2016
defense authorization bill before
adjourning for the recess, but panel
leaders remained at odds over a
handful of differences in the two
chambers’ versions of the measure.

Cost-saving Pentagon proposals
on TRICARE prescription co-pays
and the basic allowance for housing
were the biggest obstacles in the
negotiations. The Senate agreed to
much of the Pentagon’s proposal,
while the House resisted efforts to
boost out-of-pocket costs for service
members and families. Other outstanding issues include differences
over the military’s controversial
detention center at Guantanamo
Bay, Cuba, and competing language
aimed at overhauling the Pentagon’s
buying processes.

The leaders of the two committees planned to work through the
recess, with the hope of hammering out a final compromise measure shortly after returning to
Washington in early September.
However, a White House veto
threat looms over the bill for a
number of objections to provisions
in the sprawling measure, including its reliance on war funding to
bridge the budget gap.

The must-pass bill, which setsPentagon policy and prescribesspending levels, has been enactedannually for more than 50 years,an unparalleled track record for anauthorizing committee that givesthe Armed Services panels tremen-dous oversight power.

NOAA Admiral:Federal FleetNeeds Investment

An admiral in the National Oceanic
and Atmospheric Administration
(NOAA) said that investments in its
fleet of ships and aircraft are needed
for the service to continue to meet
its commitments.

“Our mission is so vitally important and the investment in our
infrastructure to continue to meet
our mission requirements and our
congressional mandates is so vitally important,” said RDML Anita
Lopez, deputy director, NOAA
Commissioned Officer Corps, and
deputy director for operations for
the NOAA Office of Marine and
Aviation Operations. “Both my aircraft and vessel fleet are aging; our
average age of our fleet is 24 years.
Future investments in newer platforms are vital for us to continue
our missions.

“And not only NOAA but the
whole federal fleet overall,” Lopez
added. “We all have unique and
diverse missions, but the federal fleet
requires investment so that we can
continue doing what we’re doing.”

Cooperation KeyTo Eastern PacificDrug Interdictions

The U.S. Coast Guard National
Security Cutter Stratton on Aug. 10
offloaded more than 66,000
pounds of cocaine at San Diego
Naval Base, a haul worth more
than $1 billion. The drugs were
seized in 23 separate interdictions
by Coast Guard cutters and law
enforcement teams operating in
known drug transiting zones,
resulting in one of the largest
cocaine offloads in U.S. history,
according to the service.